Feb 25, 2010

"Jury selection in the Hayes case represents a perfect storm of what is wrong with jury selection in Connecticut. Alone among the states, we engage in individual, sequestered, voir dire, with lawyers free to engage in endless individual questioning of jurors outside the presence of all other jurors. In the Hayes case, one of the state's top public defenders, Thommas Ullman, who represents Hayes, is known in routine cases to question each potential juror for an hour or so. In this case, where jurors must be "death-qualified," Ullman will be lucky to get through three potential panel members a day. What's more, the case will be presided over by Judge John Blue, a quirky jurist aching for recognition who has elevated distinctions without difference into an art form. Not since Gilligan's Island has the prospect of pointless dithering been so ominous"

The above was taken from a recent Norm Pattis editorial-see link above-not a big fan of pattis in general- his lack of compassion and ability to empathize with the victims of crime clearly overshadows the value of his legal experience. But he makes a few good points albeit one must Wade through his usual dispassionate stance and oft times outright disrespectful cruel and biased comments regarding the tragic victims of violent crime.

An older article but very apt and notable for its courage in speaking in real terms about a crime victims experience within Connecticut courts and just how much tenacity this family has, God bless them.

Anything to delay this Man's trial would seem to be the defenses strategy; I hope that the current presiding judge -there have been three to my knowledge thus far, will have the necessary insight and indeed education re the manipulative tactics of criminals with personality disorders which both Mr Hayes and his cohort Komisarjevsky clearly possess. Regular folks just often cannot fathom the lengths that this type of criminal -or person-will go to-in order to get what they want, whatever it happens to be at that moment. And it is unfortunately that general goodness/compassion/forgiveness in most people that make them perfect targets for these men and in this case even their paid henchman several of whom have taken on thier defense obligation in a near rabid fashion.These henchman -ie the state attorneys I speak of are ironically paid for by the state of Connecticut, as is the prosecutor.

The Petit hawke families, and many people within the community the state and even across the country have been deeply hurt and traumatized by these crimes -theyve already been lead around the block dozens of times by komisarjevsky and his bulldog-like lawyers, who have repeatedly misused our countries equitable fair defense for everyone even those whose guilt seems clear notwithstanding and within this propaganda and perverted manipulation of the law and the tenets our forefathers sought to protect and have unabashedly been utilizing the morally repugnant ambulance chaser tactic of going after the victim and his family no matter the cost as long as they save their client" As if how they do their job matters not a whit nor what victims and family friends gets hurt and ultimately re victimized and in some cases re traumatized.

Most recently The Petits hawkes and all caring and connected members of our states community been put through the mill by their client Mr komisarjevsky's graphic and manipulative so- called tell all paperback book re the murders- A book that one of the murderers co wrote in effect via an unauthorized writer who visited him numerous times in prison while a gag order was in effect for everyone connected to the case. They and we were still reeling from that books release prior to trial the least of the issues, and sure enough next were hit with the defense for Hayes the other co defendant that another delay is necessary because of this book and that was just the beginning.

As I know that there is A God I derive some comfort in knowing that all of the people involved with aiding and abetting the evil done and continuing to be done, they too will answer for it.

Jennifer Hawke-Petit, her husband, William Petit, and their two teenage daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were sleeping in their Cheshire, Conn., home early in the morning of July 23, 2007, when two men crept into the house. Within two hours, Hawke-Petit and Hayley were raped and the home was set on fire.

By the time the alleged perpetrators were caught, Hawke-Petit had been strangled to death and the two daughters had died from smoke inhalation. Fifty-year-old Petit, though beaten with a baseball bat, managed to escape.

Almost three years later, the two men charged in the notorious triple homicide, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky, have yet to be tried. And Monday in New Haven Superior Court, Judge Jon Blue delayed jury selection for Hayes’s trial for at least another week. (Komisarjevsky will be tried after Hayes’ trial has concluded .)

Exactly two weeks after Raymond Clark III, the man charged in the slaying of Yale graduate student Annie Le GRD ’13, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and felony murder, the Hayes trial suggests a lengthy judicial process lies ahead for Clark as well.

NOTORIETY

National news organizations have extensively covered both cases, making the selection of impartial jurors a challenge, three legal experts said. One of the public defenders representing Clark, Beth Merkin, said “it’s common sense that in a high profile case, you want to minimize any impact of media exposure on the jury pool.”

In cases as well-known as these, lawyers hope to fill juries with people who at least demonstrate an ability to be impartial despite prior exposure, said New Haven-based criminal defense attorney Paul Carty. Jurors need to be able to “empty the cup of all that they’ve read or heard and let it be filled with information from the trial,” he said.

Given widespread publicity about these cases, it will be a challenge to find jurors who will not feel pressured by how their friends, family or colleagues might react to a surprising verdict, said former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Meyer ’85 LAW ’89, now a law professor at Quinnipiac University.

The state prosecutor handling the case, Michael Dearington, and Hayes’ public defender, Thomas Ullmann, both declined to comment because the judge has ordered them not to discuss the case with the media. The order is intended to limit pre-trial publicity to ensure an unbiased jury, they said.

Meyer said high-profile cases draw attention to the jury selection strategies of the defense and prosecution. The prosecution in Hayes’s case wants jurors who believe in an “eye for an eye,” whereas the defense, he said, is looking for jurors who are open-minded and have a diversity of experience.

As in the Hayes case, the judge in the Clark case, Roland Fasano, has needed to strike a balance between releasing information to the public and not biasing the jury pool, Merkin said.

“But I can’t predict whether it’s even going to go to trial,” she added, because the police investigation is ongoing.

Steven Duke LAW ’61, an expert on criminal law and professor at Yale Law School, said he would not be surprised if the Clark case takes a year to come to trial.

But notoriety aside, Meyer said the most troubling parallel between the two cases is the lack of an established motive.

“Neither case involved infidelity or refusal to hand over money or any other typical motive,” Meyer said. “There are real question marks.”

The state prosecutor for the Clark case, John Waddock, declined to comment Monday.

LONG ROAD AHEAD

Jury selection for Hayes’ trial was halted last week after Hayes, of Winsted, Conn., was found unconscious in his cell at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, the maximum security facility where Clark is also being held. Hayes had overdosed on medication he had been pretending to take for several days. While his condition has since stabilized, Judge Blue postponed jury selection until at least Feb. 16.

Since jury selection began on Jan. 19, four jurors have been selected for the panel, which will include 12 regular jurors and up to eight alternates. The trial is scheduled to begin in September.

But selecting the rest of the jurors to try Hayes may take several more months, Meyer said.

Jury selection in Connecticut’s capital cases can proceed exceedingly slowly, he added, because state law allows lawyers to question each prospective juror one-on-one.

“We need to ask at what point justice delayed becomes justice denied,” he said.

Duke said individual questioning of jurors is an uncommon, but not unheard of practice outside Connecticut. Though jurors are usually questioned in groups to save time, jury selection for murder trials can take weeks or even months, he said.

Though progress on the case has been made, the long road to trial has taken a toll on those involved.

Petit, once a prominent endocrinologist, gave up his medical career after the attack to advocate for tougher sentencing laws for repeat violent offenders. Both Hayes and Komisarjevsky were on parole when they allegedly committed the crimes. At an October 2008 gathering in Woodbury, Conn., Petit said he felt abused by years of waiting for the trial to begin, the Hartford Courant reported.

“Somebody murders your family in 2007, and they tell you they’re going to go to trial in 2010 — what a great system we have,” he said.

Both Hayes and Komisarjevsky, whose trial will take place after Hayes’, could face the death penalty if convicted.

Feb 16, 2010

This really looks like one or all of the following:a) a stalling maneuver by Hayes
b) An attempt to appear more human to the potential jury pool ie "ee Ive got a conscience unlike that sociopath komisarjevsky who was the real ringleader, and I just got dragged alomg for what I thought was+9
When exactly did these drugs become a staple of Mr hayes daily life? Was he supposedly on these meds prior to coming in to prison OR as the case MORE likely was, di he successfully manipulate some hapless prison doctor/psychiatrist who perhaps young and thus too well meaning opted to be;ieve Mr Hayes's complaints were genuine-and having taken that hypocratc -to forget for a fre minutes the absolute heinous group of crimes that he was literally caught fleeing the scene of be were these drugs an opportunistic tool designed with multi-fold manipulations behind thier use?
For example Hayes defense could have been considering the option of setuing up an insanity defense from the get go-after hayes a long time loser with especially when the relativelyrare use of anti-pschotics-altho even these are becoming easierr to hrt aaaanywherdid these "meds" beginanti-psychotic and anti-anxiety ( Benzodiazepine group-think valium zanax clonipin ) all began after an evalution with prsison staff psychiatrist. Then there was the CLONIPIN AN ANXIETY DRUG OF THE BENZODIAZIPINE CLASS IE THINK ZANAX VALIUM but longer lasting in the system) he has been given this as well close to the time of his initial incarceration for these murders-

All this adds up to is he knew what it would take to kill himself-he is a drug user from way back. He likely knew that this little maneuver would both buy him time-easy time in the infirmary after the intiial hospital stomach pump and possibly garner public sympatathy from fol;ks who might percieve the attempt at suicide as a sign of remorse for the rapes murders and assualuts of the petit family members.

For a man that supposedly wanted to die hayes has refused to leave his cell even accompanied by mulitple guards and sharp shotters for fear of being attacked by other innmates-who historically dont like rapists and least of all children killers-Not to mention because of he and his co defendent being paroled early and abusing the privledge despicably ie slaughtering a family and a 11 year old child whom he tried to burn to death after raping strangling her mother within earshot of her adespite the fact that the doomed mrs petit had just returned from the bank with Mr Hayes having withdrawn 15000 dollars 5 thousand dollars more than they demanded in exchange for her familys life!

. All I can think about is that moment when they returned to the petits home where komisarjevsky admits he was sexually assaulting 11 yr old michalea and taking photos of her nude body as well as her in the bath where hed ordered her to scrub herself (ie dna of his) he turned on jen petit and began tying her down to a table to rape and choke her to death as she tried to scream for her life and her daughters lives tied to thier beds upstairs.
remember too those poor sweet girls heard thier mom being assaulted and murdered while they lay helpless tied up and about to be doused in gasoline that both men poured liberally upon thier bodies and beds and carpeting leading up from thier moms now lifeless body. I mention these details because this is what happened to these women the victims and it should never ever ever be forgotten. We owe them this, no matter how unpleasent nor disturbing-it is that very tendency of some people to distance themselves from the reality of what the victims were put through in thier last hours-or minutes or sometimes even days and weeeks as weve seen recently in the story of rescued twenty eight year old kidnapped at age eleven. The point is these details are the truth the truth is the center of everything. We must be thier voice, no matter how painful it is.

I also couldt help but recall that hayes attorneys had been madly trying to delay the jury selection process which was finally alated to begin in jan two and half years after the murders and rapes.Thankfully the most recent judge saw thru thie attorneys latests subterfuge stall tactics and said NO WE WILL PROCEED. Only a week or so into that very ardous process which conn is famous for retaining such an arcahaic and defendent oriented voire dire system, this meant that Steven hayes co defendent in these murders was about to begin the provess of facing his accountability and exact involvment in this grotesque crimes

Thus the "suicide" attempt would most importantly ultimately serve as a big delay in the long overdue inniated jury selection process for his trial-hayes is to be tried first, and his cohort komisarjevsky who many including myself consider the master mind will be thus tried when hayes's trial is finally adjudicated.

This guy hayes will do anything it takes to stall his trial from becoming underway-a process that in Ct begins with an already famously arduous voire dire potential jury process, by which both sides. the defense and the prosecutors, get to question propspective jurors ad nauseum often willy nilly with the defense almost always employing an expensive jury selection expert company who do nothing but study how to choose just the right kind of ignorant or pliable folks as jurors for thier clients trial.

This process is rare in most states not voire dire itself but the ultra liberal time consuming and seeningly without common sense nor requirement for either side to cite thier endless supply of strikes- a legal term that basically means we doont like this giu or gal for a juror and we dont have to give any reason at all. Again Connecticut is reknown for straying off the common sense beaten path and allowed its liberal legislators who have little to nothing to do with the actual say to day machinations of choosing juries for multiple rape murders kidnappings home inasions arson torture and dhild rape as are the basic tenets in this particular case. A case that I might add has has far reaching effects on not only a formerly trusting safe community but also on a larger scale an entire state that has been post traunatized by the heniousness of the crimes and then again cruelly by a recently illegally begotten cheap paperback novel written laregely from the perpective of one of the co defendets caught fleeing the burning murder scene.

In this illegally obtained and written book such details wer profferred by one of the killers who almost gleefully describes his sexual assault on a tied up 11 year old terrified michaela Petit whose mom was at the bank with mr hayes the other defendent murderer promising her that no harm woulkd come to her children as long as he got the 10000.000 hed asked for while komisarjevsky waited at home aspparently breakibng his part of his promise to Mrs Petit by raping her 11 yr old a d then forcing her to shower to get rid of any bits of semen he might have left on her. As a woman a fomer surivor of viorlent crime I couldnt help obsessing over that little girls fear and pain and terror as well as her older sister hayley who we have no proof was not also sexually assaulted at some point in the evening morning or even when hayes returned from the bank with Mrs Petit and the promised money in tow-again I cannot help but imagine what jen petit felt and thought as her captor whom she gave evrthung and more to protect the lives of her daughters and Mr Hayes and perhaps mr komsarjevsky also turned upon her immedietally tying her arms legs and noose abiout the neck as he raped a d strangled her while her husband unconscious and nearly dead from blood loss was awakened by the screams and begging by his wife on the living room floor above him in the basement where the intruders had left him beaten bloodly lilely dead tied to a pole with zipties hands and feet.

These were the details we already knew from some of the warrents published by the bristol press shortly after the crime. I like many many others soent a lot og time and angst wondering what else we didnt knoe=w and how these victims lived out the last few hours of thier lives.
The murders were no sudden panic happenchance as Mr Komsarjevsky originally tried to bamboozle the police with in his version of his confession" as later in the very book he dictated thru lettere and personal eetings with the author brian macdonald, who made his way thru subterfuge into the correctional center visiting list for lomisarjevsky by posing as an attorney sertainly not offerring the infomrmation that he was indeed a writer as the conn dept of corrections were well aware that there was a court ordered gag order on anyone related to the case including defebdebts lawyers prosecutors police judges and even victims adn thier family members. Oops another so called slip up. But the worst was yet to come when not only was this book given a good deal of pre trial publicity in the courant and the authors website itself but indeed hyped to the point of tittilating the public and misleading them once into claims of 'shocking never before seen photos-lies- and a comparison of the book-written for the most part with little to no research just letters from this kid whod snuffed out a family raping a child and leaving her tied to her bed to burn to death in what was a pre meditated plan to burn the victims and all the dna evidence of the rapes and thier prescence in the house. Ludicrous really considering komisarjevaky had the arrogence to use his cellphone to call his own job to call in sick using his own infant daughter being sick" as the excuse. He also forced Jen petit to call her husbands medical office saying he was sick and wouldnt bwe in. None of this behavioer lends itself to a panic stricken mode and a spur of the moment descsion to burn up the whole house with all the girls and thier mom and dr petit in it by dousing the tied up women two still very much aliove- Mrs Petit dead strangled and raped left thrown with her clothing ripped where she lay after being violently raped by hayes and possibly komisarjevsky-we dont know yet until all dna is presented and testimoney-but either way these are men who planned to torch this home and the children and thier mother and father with it. They procured the gasoliine at 6 am recipts and cameras show as does komisarjevskys redacted confessuin initially made to cheshire police right after he was caught fleeing the burning home with hayes in one of the petit family cars no less. Fopr men who supposedly were going to such lengths to hide thier part in these crimes they ceretainly sere putting themselves all over the crime via stealing the petit car and jewelry as well as stealing many personal items of the kids including cell phomes-which can be traced easily enough and of course the ever famous by now hat of hayley petit that hayes presumably ran out of the burning petit jouse wearing atop his head.

In the recent paperback book by brian mcdonald co authored by komsarejevaky he actually admitted to planning to kill hayes his partner in these crimes as soon as they got away from the petit house he cites his reasoning supposedly for hayes leaving his fingerprints in the hiouse after removing his gloves for a short time while rifling thru the drawers looking for sellable ite,s. Again I do not believe this was the reasom for the planned offing of hayes at ll jk tried to make it sound almost gallant as if to say because of his screw ups we had to ascalate the crimes. which i aslo more mendacity-sociopaths are reknown for lying and manipulation and it is quite clear that JK is in fact a classic textbook sociopath and it was hje who made these murders happen.

As I have \mentioned in the past posts both hayes and komsarjevskys snake oil salesma. attorneys have both behaved in despicable fashion assailing the surviving victim Bill Petit aloud in court thomas culligan even went so far as to slaim that the fact that the court was even sonsidering the petit families request for 2 simultaneous trial for hayes and komisarjevsky ridiculous on its face and was only being considered becasue rill petit was once a doctor and therefore somewhat affluent he went on to tell the judge and the televised courtroom that it made him sick: bc if this victim were black or poor this request qoulve never even been considered. In the end DrPetit and his attorny prosecutor decided to withdraw the request which theyd nade in genuine hopes of sparing the extended hawke petit family from having to hear details re rapes and horrible details re crimes agasint an 11 yr old an d a 48 yr old mom with ME no less, from being repeated twice abd enotionally regugitated. Seemed valid and sensitive to anyone with moral decency which both sets of defense attorenys paid for by our state dollars ironically clearly sorely lack. making the entire legal proffession in Connecticut more of a a farce than it already was-which is really saying something. As the jury selection eventually resumes-and it will-I will be covering the ins and outs and the hidden nuances that the average onlooker isnt privy to. I will stae the truth-plain ans simple-something this entire circus has been lacking from the onset.

One thing is for certain, despite boith defendents attempts at dragging out the judicial and administrative process imvolved with finding and presenting thier actual culpasbility in the kidnappings rapes and torture murders of three members of the Petit family, with a fourth kidnapping and attempted murder on the lone survivor Bill Petit father of the two little girls and husband of Jen Hawke Petit

Feb 1, 2010

The word has been released that "attempted suicide" is in fact the medical emergency that caused the hospitalization of Steven Hayes, co- defendent in the Petit family assaults, murders, arson and a litany of other crimes, including the murders of two children.

Hayes apparently had been stockpiling his daily anti-anxiety, anti-depressant and anti-siezure drugs, whilst pretending to swallow them, and at some oppoortune date when he felt he had enough pills, he chose to make a dramatic scene and take them all at once - clearly not enough.

Interestingly, hayes the first of the two murderer's scheduled to be tried, pulled this stunt, wouldn't you know it, just as as his jury selection was under-way,( and the reality of the trial and the impending exposure of his part in the brutal murders of a mother and her two children, came to pass. His lawyers had already tried to delay the jury selection, and thus his trial, .based upon the nonsensical logic that a recently released trashy book, essentially co- written and spoon fed by his co defendant Joshua komisarjevsky to some fool writer looking to make a quick buck, , was prejudicial towards Hayes, in essence attempting to lay the bulk of the capital crimes at Hayes feet.

At any rate, if he was truly planning on ending his life, why not do one right thing, as a parting gesture to this world; confess his complete role in the crimes and share the details these crimes, making it easier to convict his fellow defendant, and undoubtedly, the mastermind -Joshua Komisarjevsky'.
You'll recall that Komisarjevsky had no problem whatsoever doing his best to foist all responsibility for the murders and rapes on Hayes, within both his statement to police and within material dictated to the author of the illegally procured "novel " a book supposedly about the 2007 crimes, largely based upon the dictation of sociopath Joshua komisarjevsky" via his letters" and interviews with writer Brian Mcdonald.

McDonald, a writer of less than mediocre talent, and even less scruples, apparently snuck into Komisarjevskys prison, posing as an visiting attorney. He knew, as did komisarjevsky, that they were prohibited by a court ordered Gag on the case, to discuss any details about the crimes.
This Gag order had been put in place shortly after the begginnings of the criminal case by Judge Damiani and it applied to not only defendents, but their lawyers, including the prosecution. This is why there were very few details about the crimes in the mainstream media in the years following, the hartford courant actually brought the issue to court contesting the gag as an encroachment of free information act

A clutch of detailed letters were exchanged between murderer and writer and several more face to face meetings transpired before the Connecticut dept of Corrections figured out that McDonald was indeed a writer-only after a bunch of money was found to appear in komisarjevskys prsison account fund after the meetings-something also illegl in Ct and most states since the dahmer case)and was only then was he finally stricken from komisarjevskys visiting list with purportedly no explanation by the DOC to either writer macdonaldorjoshua komaarhekyman. I like many others, smelled a rat within the Connecticut Dept of Corrections. It is no secret in those inner chasms that only certain people trvaerse, that the Conn DOC is long notorious for their susceptibility to bribes- money sex etc from both inmates and even visitors; And this I do not state with un substantiated cynicism, it is spoken with absolute assurance having been made privy to a multitude of specific examples by many many former and current inmates housed within various Connecticut prisons, I'm sorry to say.

Only time will tell if this was a genuine desperate suicide attempt by a man who is inching closer and closer to FINALLY being held accountable by a jury of his peers for a Vicious rape and strangulation of a 48 yr old beloved member of the community and his part in the muliple murdersof her two young girls, one of whom was sexually assaulted and the other who was reportedly at least beaten supposedly whilst trying to escape- This coming from komisarjevszky must be taken with a grain of salt as he is clearly a sociopaath and will do or say anything to escape blameorconsequences for his own actions/The other option here is that this so called suicide attempt by HYES is in fact subterfuge and/or another form of procrastination that he and his attorneys were seeking when his lawyers were recently turned down in their bid for a jury selection delay last month ( based upon the release of komisarjevskys book
Mr Hayes hadbut one or two jurors approved within connecticuts excrutiatung slow iberalrimes themselvesand the publicddidmglwhereupon our state has needed a mjor overgaul by legisdlatorsgoverbirs victims advocates et al because of the fact that it has becimne so used abused andmisused by the defene teamuntil it has actually hijacked the very judicxil process by putting as much time between the crimes and rhe communities collective memory of them.Of courseHayes co defeiar jevsky really thru a boomerranfginmto that plan with the releaseo OFHISNE;U RKehich he illegally co=wrote ignoring a gag orderthat even the victims were held to chompig at thebi themselvesImsuireto tell the worldthe awful things done to thier belovedfsmily me,bers despitemcooperating ib every way that with thr criminaks demancdd.

About me

Writer, Healer, Activist for victims of violent crime and proponent for State-wide sentencing reform. For questions or information about crime-victim's rights or victim support services and referrals, pls email me in
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